Earth Sciences Research Journal

The assessment of local site effects is one of the most important subjects in Engineering Seismology. In order to perform an assessment, it is necessary to determine the S-wave velocity structure of the site. Additionally, in some basins, it is very important to know the deep sedimentary structure, due to the amplification phenomena of low frequency waves. There are several techniques to achieve this purpose; probably the most inexpensive technique is using the vertical component of microtremors measured with an array of seismographs. The phase velocity of Rayleigh waves is inverted to an S-wave velocity (Vs) profile  using optimization techniques. Most of the time, least square methods have been applied in the inversion.Recently, heuristic methods have also been used for the estimation of the S-wave velocity structure from microtremor.In this study seven arrays of microtremors in the city of Tsukuba city were performed, located to the NE edge of Kanto Basin, in order to estimate the deep S-wave velocity structure. The spatial autocorrelationmethod SPAC was used to determine phase velocity dispersion curves in the frequency range from 0.3-2.5 Hz. The determination of Vs profiles reached a depth of 750 m. Two methods were used to estimate the Swavevelocity structure: Inversion method and a heuristic method via the combination of Downhill Simplex Algorithm with a Very Fast Simulated Annealing Method. Comparisons with Vs from the existent resultsfrom PS-logging tests at the center of the array showed the reliability of the heuristic method.